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Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol
Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol, billed as Legacy is Earned, was a professional boxing match between 4-division world champion, Canelo Álvarez, and defending WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol. The fight took place on May 7, 2022,[1] with Bivol prevailing as the winner by unanimous decision. BackgroundAfter Canelo Álvarez unified all four major world titles to become undisputed super middleweight champion with an eleventh-round technical knockout victory over Caleb Plant on November 6, 2021, it appeared likely that Álvarez would move up to challenge for a world title in a fifth division, when his trainer Eddy Reynoso successfully petitioned the WBC on November 15, 2021, to allow Álvarez to challenge WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu.[2] The fight ultimately did not happen, as Makabu was forced into a mandatory defense of his title in a rematch against Thabiso Mchunu on January 29, 2022, which the former won via split decision.[3] Instead, it was announced on February 25, 2022, that Álvarez had signed a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing; the first fight would see him returning to the light heavyweight division to challenge long-reigning undefeated WBA (Super) champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 in a bout that would be televised as sports streaming service DAZN's first pay-per-view offering in the United States and Canada.[4] Bivol first won the WBA interim light heavyweight title in only his seventh professional bout in May 2016, making his first defense of the full WBA world title in 2017, before being designated as Super champion in 2019. Against Álvarez, Bivol made his fourth defense of the WBA (Super) title, and his ninth world title defense overall.[5] The fight was able to take place because while in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine three of boxing's world governing bodies (the World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation, and World Boxing Organization) had blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers, the World Boxing Association (WBA) chose to allow the fight to proceed.[6] Bivol was a 4 to 1 underdog with the bookies.[7] The fightBivol controlled the bout from the opening bell, using his size and his jab to keep Álvarez at range.[8] At the end of 12 rounds all three judges scored the bout 115–113 in favour of Bivol.[9] According to CompuBox punch statistics, Bivol had outlanded Álvarez in every single round of the fight, for a total of 152 punches landed out of 710 thrown (21%), compared to Álvarez's 84 of 495 (17%).[10] AftermathMany media reporters and pundits drew attention to the judges' official scorecards: all three judges had scored Álvarez the winner of the first four rounds, something that was roundly criticized, and described by ESPN reporter Mike Coppinger as "puzzling".[8][11][12] Despite the widespread public opinion that Bivol was the deserved winner, Álvarez initially disagreed with this notion, stating in his post-fight interview: "I don't feel like I lost the fight... Personally, I felt he [Bivol] only won four or five rounds." He later acknowledged defeat and alluded to an issue hampering his training regimen, "It’s another reason, but I don’t want to say anything and make any excuses. I lost and that’s it. I got tired and that’s it. I couldn’t train like usually, but it is what it is."[13] He went on to express his desire to fight Bivol again: "We want the rematch, and we're going to do better in the rematch."[8] Despite this, a rematch between Álvarez and Bivol did not materialize immediately, as the former opted to face unfied middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in a trilogy bout instead.[14] Fight cardConfirmed bouts:[15]
^Note 1 For WBA (Super) light heavyweight title BroadcastingThe bout was broadcast live by sports streaming service DAZN to existing subscribers worldwide excluding Latin America. The bout was broadcast on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada.[4]
^excl. Live on DAZN worldwide excluding Latin America. References
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